Bottled water dispensers are employed in commercial and residential settings to provide a convenient source of potable water. Such dispensers often employ a base unit with one or more spigots to dispense the water from an internal reservoir. The base unit is often further configured to receivingly support an inverted water bottle above the reservoir. In this way, water empties from the bottle into the reservoir as water is correspondingly drawn from the reservoir through the spigot(s).
While operable, there are a number of limitations associated with this type of dispenser. The first limitation is the need to physically lift and place the water bottle onto the base unit. Such water bottles are usually relatively large and cumbersome; a full, standard five (5) gallon plastic bottle of water can weigh in excess of forty (40) pounds. The effort required to lift or carry a full water bottle can be strenuous for an adult male, and may be prohibitive for many women, children, elderly or handicapped persons.
Depending on the configuration of the bottle, water can be spilled through the neck opening of the bottle during the placement process. A water bottle can also crack open if inadvertently dropped, resulting in the flow of several gallons of water onto the floor. In situations where the volume of consumed water is relatively high, there is also the need to stockpile multiple full water bottles in a central storage location, and then to carry each full water bottle from this location to the base unit as needed.
Thus, as water dispensing units continue to enjoy widespread popularity, there remains a continual need for improvements to address these and other limitations of the prior art.